Shannon had just deleted the record when Brendon came back with coffee. “Shannon, don’t drink too much, or you won’t be able to sleep later,” he said.
“Thank you, Brendon! You always get me whatever I want. I’m so lucky!” Shannon leaned towards Brendon.
Brendon took a step back and avoided her. “Shannon, did you see my phone? I think I left it somewhere.”
“Oh! Here it is!” Shannon handed him his phone. “Brendon, thank you for taking me home! Let Allen handle things here; we can make it to Amiya’s birthday party if we leave now.”
“There are still some things that need attention here,” Brendon said.
Shannon became unhappy and pouted. “Brendon, are you reluctant to leave Ranita?”
“You rest for a bit; I’ll make a call.” Brendon changed the subject and walked away with his phone. He hesitated before calling Ayaan.
But the line was busy.
Where could he have gone?
Ranita was anxious after being hung up on but had no choice but to continue looking for Ayaan. She walked until she reached the lake where she heard some noise in the distance and ran towards it quickly.
Steve was there too.
“Ranita…” Steve began speaking as soon as he saw her approaching him
“What happened? Did you find anything?” Ranita asked before rescue personnel wearing life jackets spoke up, “This is a jacket that I found underwater; take a look…”
Ranita’s legs went weak, and she almost fell to the ground.
“Ranita!” Steve reached out to support her. “Ranita! Are you okay?”
Steve looked at the soaked coat, and his heart was about to explode! He had personally helped Ayaan put on that coat!
Did Ayaan really fall into the lake?
Steve couldn’t imagine it. His eyes turned red, and he sadly looked at Ranita and slapped himself. “Ranita, I’m sorry! It’s all my fault! It’s all my fault!”
“Dr. Pearson, please don’t blame yourself like this!” Ranita’s mood was truly terrible, but she couldn’t blame Steve. It was her who entrusted the child to him, and as a mother, she should bear the greatest responsibility.
Tears streamed down Ranita’s face, and she cried with tears all over her face. She couldn’t hold back anymore. Where was Ayaan?
With the clue in the lake, more people came over to search in the area.
Half an hour passed, then an hour, two hours… Ranita’s tears dried up, but there was no news at all! The people searching outside also had no feedback or results.
Time seemed to stand still.
Steve held Ranita in his arms and spoke with difficulty, “Ranita, I’ll stay here and wait. Why don’t you go back and rest?”
“No… I want to wait for Ayaan!” Ranita shook her head. “I want to wait for Ayaan!”
Steve knew that Ranita was not in the right mental state, but he had no authority to make her leave! If something really happened to Ayaan, Ranita would definitely collapse!
Steve truly regretted it. If only he had listened to Ranita and immediately taken Ayaan back to Slovenia! If only he hadn’t turned around, if only he had held Ayaan’s hand tighter… would none of this have happened?
Steve felt like a criminal!
It was his negligence that caused Ayaan’s accident.